The autobiography of Sarah Brady
By Dr. Michael S. Brown
web posted March 25, 2002
The name Sarah Brady has become synonymous with gun
control. As chair of Handgun Control Inc., she has been an
active combatant in America's cultural war over the right of
citizens to keep and bear arms.
Her autobiography, "A Good Fight," arrived in bookstores this
past weekend. While it does not rank with the great biographies,
it may be of interest to historians and students who wish to
understand the personalities involved in the gun control debate.
It begins with the tragic wounding of her husband, White House
Press Secretary Jim Brady, by a lunatic intent on assassinating
President Reagan in 1981. Jim Brady's heroic struggle to survive
and recover from a crippling head wound is a recurring theme
throughout the book along with the family's efforts to cope with
the disaster.
Sarah Brady describes her middle-class life before she entered
the world of Washington politics. During the mid-1960's she
spent two years as a 5th grade teacher in a black neighborhood
and she recalls that there was no fear of guns in her school. She
did not mention the fact that guns were much more easily
available in that era than they are now.
In 1968, she began working for a Republican campaign
committee in Washington and began her lifelong involvement in
politics. Although her husband was a key Reagan team member,
her politics would have to be called Republican in name only.
She makes several references to her dissatisfaction with
Republican positions on many issues and she seems relieved to
report her endorsement of Bill Clinton in the 1992 presidential
election.
Her story includes several interesting vignettes of life among
Washington's power elite when her husband was a key member
of the Reagan administration.
Brady did not feel like she belonged in this rarified strata of
society, but the reader can sense her outrage when an assassin's
bullet pierced the royal cocoon of bodyguards and limousines to
unfairly cut short the intoxicating experience.
The important turning point in her life actually occurred a few
years after her husband was injured. She describes an incident
where her young, hyperactive son picked up a loaded handgun
from the seat of a friend's car. Never having been taught about
guns, the youngster began to wave it around like a toy. Upon
realizing their narrow escape from disaster, something snaps
inside Sarah Brady.
A person from a rural area might have decided to teach gun
safety classes to families and young people. Brady's background
in Washington politics probably explains why she chose to
advocate restrictive laws and more government control of
society. She instinctively decided to dedicate her life to gun
control and soon joined HCI as a spokesperson.
She apparently felt right at home. Her choice of words indicates
her complete acceptance of the anti-gun faith. She is always
careful to say that people are killed "by" guns rather than with
guns, as if guns are beings with minds of their own. She also
reveals her lack of knowledge about guns with statements like:
"...Saturday Night Specials, which are used almost exclusively
for crime."
Brady offers some interesting details about the inner workings of
the anti-gun lobby. She portrays them as terribly overmatched by
the giant NRA, but deliberately omits the fact that the elite media
was universally supportive of the anti-gun movement. This
resulted in an essentially level playing field, making for some
interesting strategies to change public opinion and influence votes
in Congress.
A perfect example is the brilliantly cynical decision to destroy the
friendly relationship that had long existed between the NRA and
the law enforcement community. The folks at HCI seized on the
completely bogus issue of "cop killer bullets" which had never
killed a cop, but made a perfect political weapon.
Law enforcement leaders saw it as an important symbolic issue.
The NRA saw serious practical problems with the legislation. It
also went against their sense of propriety to support a law that
accomplished nothing beyond adding another layer to the
growing pile of restrictive laws that were bedeviling honest gun
owners.
The HCI strategy was a complete success and the rift between
the NRA and law enforcement has still not been fully repaired.
Brady discusses the "Assault Weapon Ban" in a way that gives
some insight into her thinking. Criminals were never affected by
the ban and the firearms industry soon found ways around the
law, yet she is still proud of her victory. Apparently what she
really cares about is conducting a good fight.
The fact that Brady and her husband suffered in such a public
way tended to insulate her from some of the harsh personal
attacks that are always part of a bitter public debate. Gun rights
activists, who are human too, had some sympathy for Brady and
were more comfortable picking on easy targets like Rosie
O'Donnell or Bill Clinton.
It is fascinating to find that Brady has nothing but contempt for
her opponents. Anyone who disagreed with her is labeled an
extremist and Charlton Heston is called a "pompous ass." She
also has harsh and insulting words for various members of
Congress who did not support her agenda.
When protesters appeared at many of her speaking
engagements, she felt an almost overpowering fear for her own
safety. By demonizing gun owners, she made them into fearsome
monsters that required her to summon up all her courage in order
to continue speaking. She does not understand that the last thing
the gun rights community wanted was a martyr. She was
probably safer surrounded by her enemies than she was on a
Washington street where the failure of gun control laws is legend.
An ironic twist occurs late in the story. Her bright, but
troublesome son matured into a responsible young man and he
wished to receive a hunting rifle for Christmas. At first horrified,
Brady decided that her son was a grown man and she wasn't
going to let her personal feelings get in the way of giving him
what he wanted for Christmas. She writes, "I no longer wanted
to play judge and jury" in his life. If only the rest of us were so
fortunate.
Her experience at the gun store is priceless. She seems afraid
that the gun owners in the shop might turn on her if they discover
who she is as the gun dealer calls in her identifying information to
request government approval of her purchase. Her feelings are
similar to those reported by responsible gun owners who feel
they are treated like criminals every time they buy a firearm.
The last major event is the discovery that Brady, a long time
smoker, had lung cancer. Being a member of the Washington
elite, she of course had access to the latest treatments. But at
least in the advance copy of her book, they all appear to have
failed.
What is truly fascinating here is to compare her views on
cigarettes with the way she blamed guns for her husband's injury.
Brady takes full responsibility for her decision to smoke
cigarettes throughout her adult life in spite of many warnings,
beginning with her father who called them "cancer sticks" before
she ever began smoking.
This may the most ironic theme in the book. There is no hint that
she blames the tobacco companies for her illness. She does not
ask for cigarette users to be licensed. There are no shrill pleas
for laws to "save the children" from this terrible scourge which
kills far more people than guns. Perhaps she is trying to tell us
that controlling yourself can sometimes be more difficult than
trying to control others.
Sarah Brady is appearing now on talk shows, promoting her
book in the company of sympathetic hosts. You can bet that
pro-gun authors would not be accorded the same privilege and
you can be certain that she will not notice the double standard.
Like most autobiographies, "A Good Fight" portrays the author
in a favorable light and presents her political views in a one-sided
way. This reader was left with an impression of Sarah Brady as a
tough, quirky and somewhat neurotic mom who had some
success imposing her maternal will on a nation.
Dr. Michael S. Brown is an optometrist and member of Doctors
for Sensible Gun Laws, www.dsgl.org. He may be contacted at:
rkba2000@yahoo.com.
Enter Stage Right - http://www.enterstageright.com